Go to the Hospital or Stay at Home? A Qualitative Study of Expected Hospital Decision Making Among Older African Americans With Advanced Heart Failure

To address the need for more information concerning hospital decision making, we conducted in-depth interviews among African Americans with heart failure and their family caregivers (n?=?11 dyads). Using a case scenario, we asked participants about their anticipated hospitalization decisions. Most patients indicated that they would seek care to avoid further deterioration or death from their worsening condition. Many family caregivers anticipated having an active influence on hospitalization decisions. Findings suggest that social workers should encourage the development of adequate home-based services, recognize diverse communication styles, and use this information to facilitate medical decision making by these patients and their caregivers.     

Relational stability and alliance performance in supply chain

Drawing on the theories of social exchange and goal interdependence, this paper examines the antecedents of relational stability in supply chain alliances and if the stability affects alliance performance in supply chain in the context of manufacturing firms. The results show that both relational commitment and trust of supplier have positive effects on relational stability in supply chain alliance, which in turn positively affects the alliance performance. These results have important implications for researchers investigating the effectiveness of supply chain alliances as well as practitioners seeking to improve alliance performance in supply chain.     

Nonverbal Decoding Skills and Relationship Well-Being in Adults

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between nonverbal decoding skills and relationship well-being. Sixty college students were administered tests of their abilities to identify the affective meanings in facial expressions and tones of voice. The students also completed self-report measures of relationship well-being and depression. Correlational analyses indicated that errors in decoding facial expressions and tones of voice were associated with less relationship well-being and greater depression. Hierarchical regression revealed that nonverbal decoding accuracy was significantly related to relationship well-being even after controlling for depression.     

Are women less career centric than men? Structure,culture, and identity investments

Some work/family scholars assume that gender differences in career centrality (i.e. the importance of career to one's identity) are a result of differential job characteristics and family demands; others trace these differences to pre-existing cultural orientations. Using the 2010 Generations of Talent data from 9210 employees working in 11 countries for 7 multinational companies, this study verifies the existence of gender differences in career centrality and explores structural and cultural explanations. Gender disparities in career centrality are modest, indicating that women's and men's identification with careers is more similar than is commonly asserted; the most pronounced (but still relatively small) disparities are observed in Japan and China. A large portion of the gender gap is explained by job characteristics, supporting structural explanations. Family demands contribute to explaining the gap as well, but the findings are unexpected: having minor children is associated with higher career centrality for both women and men. In support of cultural explanations, however, traditional gender beliefs are associated with lower career centrality, especially for women, while two job characteristics (job variety and peer relations) have distinct links to career centrality for women and men. Findings challenge the common assumption that family identities compete against work identities.     

Women’s status and carbon dioxide emissions: A quantitative cross-national analysis

Global climate change is one of the most severe problems facing societies around the world. Very few assessments of the social forces that influence greenhouse gas emissions have examined gender inequality. Empirical research suggests that women are more likely than men to support environmental protection. Various strands of feminist theory suggest that this is due to women’s traditional roles as caregivers, subsistence food producers, water and fuelwood collectors, and reproducers of human life. Other theorists argue that women’s status and environmental protection are linked because the exploitation of women and the exploitation of nature are interconnected processes. For these theoretical and empirical reasons, we hypothesize that in societies with greater gender equality there will be relatively lower impacts on the environment, controlling for other factors. We test this hypothesis using quantitative analysis of cross-national data, focusing on the connection between women’s political status and CO₂ emissions per capita. We find that CO₂ emissions per capita are lower in nations where women have higher political status, controlling for GDP per capita, urbanization, industrialization, militarization, world-system position, foreign direct investment, the age dependency ratio, and level of democracy. This finding suggests that efforts to improve gender equality around the world may work synergistically with efforts to curtail global climate change and environmental degradation more generally.     

Application of the user-centred design process according ISO 9241-210 in air traffic control

Designing a usable human machine interface for air traffic control is challenging and should follow approved methods. The ISO 9241-210 standard promises high usability of products by integrating future users and following an iterative process. This contribution describes the proceeding and first results of the analysis and application of ISO 9241-210 to develop a planning tool for air traffic controllers.     

Visual ergonomics and computer work--is it all about computer glasses?

The Swedish Provisions on Work with Display Screen Equipment and the EU Directive on the minimum safety and health requirements for work with display screen equipment cover several important visual ergonomics aspects. But a review of cases and questions to the Swedish Work Environment Authority clearly shows that most attention is given to the demands for eyesight tests and special computer glasses. Other important visual ergonomics factors are at risk of being neglected. Today computers are used everywhere, both at work and at home. Computers can be laptops, PDA's, tablet computers, smart phones, etc. The demands on eyesight tests and computer glasses still apply but the visual demands and the visual ergonomics conditions are quite different compared to the use of a stationary computer. Based on this review, we raise the question if the demand on the employer to provide the employees with computer glasses is outdated.     

Intercultural education set forward: operational strategies and procedures in Cypriot classrooms

Teachers in Cyprus are being called upon for the first time to teach within culturally diverse educational settings. Given the substantial role, teachers play in the implementation of intercultural education, this paper explores the intercultural strategies and procedures adopted by primary school teachers in Cyprus. Interviews were carried out with 30 teachers, from four different schools. Findings show that participants held conflicting perceptions of intercultural education, while they lacked sufficient awareness of their immigrant students’ cultural backgrounds. Participants adopted individualised and collaborative strategies, classroom discussions on intercultural issues and attempted to raise immigrant students’ self-esteem in order to promote intercultural education. However, their own lack of intercultural preparation, along with lack of language proficiency of immigrant students, the inadequacy of the Cypriot national curriculum and time constraints, worked against efforts to promote greater inclusion.

Στα πλα?σια τη? πρoσχ?ρηση? τη? Κ?πρoυ στην Ευρωπα?κ? ?νωση καθ?? και τoυ υπ?ρμ?γ?θoυ? κ?ματo? μ?ταν?στ?υση? πρo? τη χ?ρα, oι ?κπαιδ?υτικo? καλo?νται για πρ?τη ?oρ? να διδ?ξoυν σ? διαπoλιτισμικ? π?ριβ?λλoντα. Λαμβ?νoντα? υπ?ψη τoν oυσιαστικ? ρ?λo πoυ διαδραματ?ζ?ι o ?κπαιδ?υτικ?? στην ??αρμoγ? τη? διαπoλιτισμικ?? ?κπα?δ?υση?, τo παρ?ν ?ρθρo δι?ρ?υν? τι? διαπoλιτισμικ?? στρατηγικ?? και διαδικασ??? πoυ υιoθ?τo?νται απ? τoυ? Κ?πριoυ? ?κπαιδ?υτικo??. Συν?ντ??ξ?ι? πραγματoπoι?θηκαν μ? 30 δασκ?λoυ?, απ? τ?σσ?ρα δια?oρ?τικ? σχoλ??α β?σ?ι τη? πoλιτισμικ?? πoλυμoρ??α? τoυ πληθυσμo? των μαθητ?ν τoυ?. Τα συμπ?ρ?σματα υπoδ?ικν?oυν ?τι oι συμμ?τ?χoντ?? διατηρo?ν αντι?ατικ?? αντιλ?ψ?ι? ανα?oρικ? στη διαπoλιτισμικ? ?κπα?δ?υση, ?ν? στ?ρo?νται πoλιτισμικ?? γν?ση? για τoυ? μ?ταν?στ?? μαθητ?? τoυ?. Oι συμμ?τ?χoντ?? υιoθ?τησαν στρατηγικ?? πoυ ?πτoνται τη? ?ξατoμικ?υμ?νη? και oμαδoσυν?ργατικ?? διδασκαλ?α?, των oμαδικ?ν συζητ?σ?ων στην τ?ξη σχ?τικ? μ? πoικ?λα διαπoλιτισμικ? ζητ?ματα και ?πιχ??ρησαν να ?νισχ?σoυν την αυτo?ικ?να των μ?ταναστ?ν μαθητ?ν μ? απ?τ?ρo σκoπ? την πρo?θηση τη? διαπoλιτισμικ?? ?κπα?δ?υση?. Εντo?τoι?, η ?λλιπ?? διαπoλιτισμικ? πρo?τoιμασ?α των ?κπαιδ?υτικ?ν, η π?ριoρισμ?νη αν?πτυξη των μ?ταναστ?ν μαθητ?ν στην Ελληνικ? γλ?σσα, η αν?π?ρκ?ια τoυ Κυπριακo? αναλυτικo? πρoγρ?μματo?, καθ?? και oι χρoνικo? π?ριoρισμo? τoυ, αντιστρατ??oνται τι? συμπ?ριληπτικ?? πρoσπ?θ?ι?? των ?κπαιδ?υτικ?ν.     

Making bullying prevention a priority in Finnish schools: the KiVa antibullying program

The KiVa antibullying program has been widely implemented in Finnish comprehensive schools since 2009. The program is predicated on the idea that a positive change in the behaviors of classmates can reduce the rewards gained by the perpetrators of bullying and consequently their motivation to bully in the first place. KiVa involves both universal and bullying specific actions to prevent the emergence of new cases of bullying, stop ongoing bullying, and reduce the negative consequences of victimization. The program has been evaluated in a randomized controlled trial involving 234 Finnish schools and during broad dissemination across Finnish schools (the evaluation involving almost one thousand schools) with positive findings. The program content and the implementation model are presented in this article, and the findings from the evaluation studies are summarized.     

The reverse wage gap among educated White and Black women

Using the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses and the 2004–2005 American Community Surveys, we estimate the Black–White wage gap among females with at least some college education. We find that Black female nurses earn 9% more at the mean and median than White female nurses, controlling for selection into nursing employment. Among K-12 teachers, Black females earn 7% more than White females at the median. There is no Black–White wage gap among all women with a bachelor’s degree. Differences in opportunities for education and marriage between White and Black women may explain why highly educated Black females earn on par with highly educated White females.